Birds living in hot, humid climates have evolved to handle larger spikes in body temperature surprisingly better than their counterparts in deserts or cool mountains, according to new research led by the University of Pretoria.
The study, which is based on the PhD work of zoology student Marc Freeman, found that rising temperatures because of climate change will affect bird species differently. Their abilities to withstand extremely hot conditions depends on the part of the world that they find themselves in and the climatic region to which their physiology has become adapted over thousands of years.
